A HISTORIC mill's bid to win £2million has been adopted by civic leaders around the North West.

Higherford Mill at Barrowford will feature on BBC2's Restoration Village next Friday night and in the run up to the programme supporters will set off on a series of bus tours to drum up support.

Six tours have been organised, starting this week, and each one of them will get a civic reception.

Higherford Mill - built in 1824 - is one of the oldest surviving textile complexes in East Lancashire and supporters hope that TV viewers will vote for it in their thousands.

Ambitious restoration plans will see it become a centre for the arts, housing workshops, studios and an exhibition space.

It is also hoped the original water wheel can be restored to provide power for the site.

A spokesman for Heritage Trust for the North West which is behind the scheme said: "The scheme appears to have captured the imagination of people far and wide. Even traditional county rivalries appear to have been put to one side with many Yorkshire towns with a similar textile tradition giving us their backing."

For the bus tours, supporters will travel in vintage vehicles provided by the Ribble Valley Preservation Trust and the Darwen Transport Museum Trust.

A number of tour places are still available and are open to anyone who can go long and help spread the word about Higherford Mill.

The first tour visits Burnley where the mayor, Mohammed Najib, will welcome supporters at Towneley Hall.

Other trips include Skipton, Lytham, Settle, Heysham and Halifax.

In Halifax, permission has been granted to drive the supporter's bus to Piece Hall.

Once Higherford Mill appears on Restoration Village, viewers will have four days to vote for it.

Two other buildings in the North West will be featured on the programme and the one with the most votes will go through to a live final on September 19.

The Heritage Trust for the North West - which has already saved the mill from demolition - will be holding an open weekend at the complex next weekend after the TV programme.

"This is a vitally important building and we just want as many people as possible to vote for it," said a spokesman.

"We hope that everyone in East Lancashire will adopt it as their' building as it is part of our heritage."

Anyone interested in going on one of the bus tours should contact Pendle Tourist Information on 01282 661701.